TrueNAS and Other Custom NAS Builds

CaseySJ · Jun 17, 2023

Week #2:

The UniFi network is partially installed
10GbE lines are active around the house
It feels liberating to be able to connect to the TrueNAS server at 10GbE from anywhere in the house!
Fiber optic OM3 (not OM4) cables have also been routed; will be terminated tomorrow or later
Still a fair bit of work to do, including updating home theater components
The UniFi console application is just amazing; it's clear that software is the key to an exceptional user experience (which is something Apple values highly)

Azimuth1 · Jun 28, 2023

@etorix

I've bought two modules of:
Kingston Branded Memory 8GB DDR4 2666MT/s DIMM Reg ECC Single Rank Module KTL-TS426S8/8G

upon your suggestion and put them on my (Xpenology) NAS on Gigabyte C246M-WU4 Motherboard which is working with an Intel i3-8100. The CPU is ECC compatible according to Ark Intel, and surely is the motherboard. But the system is not booting anymore. Any hints?

etorix · Jun 28, 2023

gandem said:
It looks like JellyFin requires the use of an NFS share when using a custom path. Are there any down sides to that when trying to share with MacOS clients to load content?

Mac OS is perfectly happy to mount and use NFS shares. Just don't have the same dataset shared with two protocols (SMB + NFS) at the same time, as there's a risk that two clients could attempt to change the same file at the same time using the two distinct protocols.

etorix · Jun 28, 2023

Azimuth1 said:
I've bought two modules of:
Kingston Branded Memory 8GB DDR4 2666MT/s DIMM Reg ECC Single Rank Module KTL-TS426S8/8G

upon your suggestion and put them on my (Xpenology) NAS on Gigabyte C246M-WU4 Motherboard which is working with an Intel i3-8100. The CPU is ECC compatible according to Ark Intel, and surely is the motherboard. But the system is not booting anymore. Any hints?

I suppose you have already checked, and reseated, the modules in the slots.
Do you have another motherboard to test the modules?

If all fails, the modules are either defective or not supported, and the solution is to return them and replace them (preferably by modules on the board's QVL).

Azimuth1 · Jun 28, 2023

etorix said:
I suppose you have already checked, and reseated, the modules in the slots.
Do you have another motherboard to test the modules?

If all fails, the modules are either defective or not supported, and the solution is to return them and replace them (preferably by modules on the board's QVL).

Well... I tried them in both: A1+B1 slots and A2+B2 slot but none of those combination worked... and the boot failed. On the Crucial website I found this module which is declared as compatible:

https://www.crucial.com/memory/server-ddr4/mta18asf2g72az-2g6e2r

But I cannot find it, it seems to be obsolete nowadays. Tomorrow I will give them a second try and, if they fail again, I will return them. Unfortunately I don't have another motherboard of the same type. I had a look to the QVL RAM list but nowadays those modules are not in production anymore.

Middleman · Jun 29, 2023

@Azimuth1 @gandem

Just thought to mention if you are looking for fast local storage without the trouble of ZFS you could always look towards an Areca TB3/TB4 RAID unit. The smallest 4 bay unit will cost just under $2K (without drives) and read speeds are decent (easily over 1100MB). I have two sets of Areca drives both at home and at work (including Drobos as secondary backup) and have been working with them for over a decade so it is highly recommended.

A word about storage and back ups though. In Gandem's case although it sounds like a great idea to try put everything into one basket ie. single pool I say it is better to be cautious and still keep certain backups separate because of potential issues (virus/malware/theft/system failures). Backups of system drives should always be kept separate imho. Video edits of large files are fine and could be done with both a connected fast DAS RAID like the Areca and/or separate fast NVMe dock. Any other less used files, backup or smartphone/drive images can be kept in the main NAS storage pool and you could have the pool backed up online offsite for extra safety (that's how I would do it). For online backup storage at its price, nothing really beats Backblaze or Dropbox (if you can afford it). A lot of users in my field use them on a regular basis along with a main NAS/DAS. One person I know recovered his entire life's work of photos (TB's worth) through Dropbox's Undelete function.

CaseySJ · Jul 2, 2023

Interim Update:

A lot of progress was made last weekend on both the networking side and home theater/AV side of the project
A number of Ethernet port connections were rearranged and color-coded:
- Orange = 10GbE
- Purple = Surveillance cameras
- Blue = 1GbE
- Green = 2.5GbE
One more client for TrueNAS was set up:
- Eversolo DMP-A6 Master Edition (streaming box) connected to:
  - Schiit Jotenheim headphone amp and line-level preamp
  - Schiit Gjallarhorn speaker amplifier

gandem · Jul 28, 2023

CaseySJ said:
Interim Update:

Wow! That looks fantastic! Maybe if the Mega-Millions comes through tonight... I can get a system like that. :lol:

Jellybeans!

gandem · Jul 28, 2023

I have an old Netgear ReadyNAS NV+ 4200 series x-raid appliance. I'm trying to figure out the best way to transfer to the TrueNAS system. Any recommendations?

CaseySJ · Jul 28, 2023

gandem said:
I have an old Netgear ReadyNAS NV+ 4200 series x-raid appliance. I'm trying to figure out the best way to transfer to the TrueNAS system. Any recommendations?

This is the procedure I followed to copy everything from my ReadyNAS RN214 (ext4) to TrueNAS (zfs):